


Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It... NO!

by GreyTabbyCat



Category: Forever (TV)
Genre: Blizzards & Snowstorms, F/M, Power Outage, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-07 19:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5468090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyTabbyCat/pseuds/GreyTabbyCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A blizzard hits New York. What happens when Jo gets stranded at Henry's place for at least one night and the heating goes out on top of it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It... NO!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Muir_Wolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muir_Wolf/gifts).



> I hope you'll like my treat. :) It was definitely interesting for me to write Henry and Jo in this scenario. ^^ 
> 
> Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not mine! They belong to their rightful owners.

It was already snowing heavily when Jo and Hanson returned to the precinct in the late afternoon. They had just closed their latest case and gone to the widow to tell her that they’d caught her husband’s killer. They didn’t want to make the nice elderly lady brave this kind of weather and thus had driven over to her house themselves. 

“You know, we’re supposed to get 25 inches of snow tonight?” Hanson asked incredulously when the partners entered the building, brushing off any snow he could reach on his clothing. 

“Yeah, Mike, I know. I was sitting right next to you in the car when it was announced,” Jo retorted somewhat annoyed, huddling further into her coat even in the relative warmth of the precinct. “I hate weather like this!” To punctuate her words she stabbed the elevator button with more forth than necessary. 

“Me too! And it will surely be a snow-day tomorrow if it really gets as bad as forecasted,” Hanson groaned, envisioning a whole day with his lively kids stuck inside and himself in the middle of it all. 

Just as they stepped off the elevator and entered their floor they saw Lieutenant Reece exit her office. She waited until her two detectives were in hearing range too before speaking. “The city administration has just issued travel bans effective from 7 pm tonight until the storm passes. I want to see everyone out of here by 5 at the latest and I don’t want anyone out in this weather unless explicitly stated otherwise. Understood?” 

At their affirmative chorus and nodding Reece made to head back to her office, before remembering something and turning back around. “Martinez, let the staff down at the morgue know too in case they haven’t heard yet!” And with that she went to her office, closing the door behind her. 

“Looks like it’s really about to get bad if they issue travel bans for the whole city.”

“Yeah,” Hanson agreed, sitting down at his desk to finish the last report before finally being done with the case for good. 

“Will you be ok finishing paperwork on your own?” Jo asked. She knew from experience that prying Henry away from his work could take time and she would prefer to get moving sooner rather than later. 

“Yeah, of course. Go see what the good Doc is up to!”

“Thanks Mike! Drive safely!” Jo gathered her belongings and made to leave in the direction she’d just come from not 5 minutes earlier. 

“You too!” Hanson shouted at her retreating form and went to finish his report. 

***

Down in the morgue Jo found Henry wrist deep in the chest cavity of presumably his latest case. 

“Ah, Detective! Since this man was not murdered, to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence down here?” Henry asked while removing his hands from the victim’s insides and throwing his bloody gloves in the trash. 

“It’s time to call it a day Henry.” Jo told him without preamble. Henry, not understanding anything, cocked his head to the side a little and raised his eyebrows in question.

“Isn’t it a bit early to leave already?”

“Haven’t you seen the weather report?” Henry only gave her a blank look. “Stupid question.” She rolled her eyes at herself for even asking in the first place. “Of course you haven’t! There’s a blizzard approaching the city, it’s already snowing heavily. Travel bans will be in effect in 2.5 hours and I’m here to give you a ride home.” 

“Thank you, but I’m sure it isn’t that bad.” 

“It is that bad, Henry.”

“Oh well, if you insist.”

“I do.” She gave Henry a very pointed look. She was definitely not in the mood to argue with him right now.

“Alright,” luckily for him, Henry was perceptive enough to realise he’d better do what he was told, “I’ll only be a minute. Lucas can you put Mr. Martins back in storage?” He barely waited for an answer from his assistant before he was already halfway to his office. 

“Lucas, do you need a ride as well? It really is frightful outside,” Jo offered. She really didn’t want Henry’s young assistant outside longer than necessary. 

“Oh no! I mean, I’ll be fine. It’s not too far for me. And besides, I do have to still finish something here. Thanks for the offer though.” He appeared to be quite flustered at the offer. Rather than making him more uncomfortable, she decided to drop the subject and go check on Henry’s progress. 

“Henry?” she called upon entering his office. “You about ready to go?” 

Henry jumped and looked up from his desk and the writing he had just been doing. 

“Henry what the hell!”

“Oh, I, well… I only had to put down the results of the preliminary examination and my findings of the first bit of the autopsy.” 

“Are you done now? Can we leave?” 

“Yes, of course. Let me just get my coat and lock up here.” 

It only took Henry a moment to get ready this time around. He really didn’t want to try his luck with Jo’s seemingly waning patience. 

***

When they reached the street Henry was taken aback by the thick snowfall. He hadn’t anticipated weather this bad when he had read the forecast in the newspaper this morning. 

“I admit you weren’t kidding, Jo.” 

“Finally you see my reasoning! Now, come on! The sooner we get moving the better!” 

After starting her car, Jo immediately turned up the heating. Then she started on the slow crawl towards Henry’s place.

***

After what felt like an eternity they finally reached the shop. Jo let out a sigh of relief after having nearly collided with other drivers on multiple occasions and almost driven off the road a couple times as well. The snowfall had gotten even worse and it was impossible now to see anything beyond the hood of her car. They had to go at a snail’s pace the whole time. 

“Ok, here we are Henry. See you at work after this madness is over!” 

“You know you’d be more than welcome to stay here.” She had barely opened her mouth in protest when Henry went on, “The snowfall is so heavy you can barely see anything. Don’t deny it!” Since she had just been about to do just that, she closed her mouth again. 

“Do you really want to get back on the road in this weather when you could as well stay here?” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Henry. “Thought so. Plus, it would make me feel much better if I knew you were safely here rather than out on the street.” Henry near-pleaded with her and gave her his most charming smile. 

“Alright, alright! Before you twist my arm,” Jo acquiesced at last. She turned off the engine and got out, locking the car before following Henry inside. 

***

Once upstairs, Henry hung up their coats and scarves and went into the kitchen to put the kettle on. Jo followed him.

“Where’s Abe? Isn’t he home yet?” There was an edge of worry lacing her words at the older man’s absence. 

“No, he has left yesterday on a week-long fishing trip with some of his army buddies,” Henry elaborated on his son’s whereabouts without halting in the preparations of making tea. 

“That’s nice.” 

His task done, he turned to Jo. “There’s a throw blanket in the living-room you’re more than welcome to use.”

“Excuse me?”

“You are cold. You are rubbing your hands together. I also noticed that you are shivering slightly. The thin fabric of your blouse doesn’t do much to retain body heat,” Henry explained in typical Henry-fashion. 

“I hate weather like this. I mean I like certain aspects of winter mind you, but this freezing wind gets to me.” 

Just then the kettle whistled and Henry busied himself with the tea once more. When he entered the living-room, a tray with their tea in hand, he found Jo sitting on the couch with the blanket slung around her shoulders. 

“Better?” he asked her as he set the tray down and lit the candle in the teapot-warmer. 

“A little, but it will do for now.” Jo told him with a small smile and readily accepted a cup of tea from Henry. She clasped both hands around the cup to try and warm them. 

They sat next to each other in silence for a while, enjoying one another’s company, happy not to be alone. 

“Do you think it will really get as bad as forecasted?” Jo asked Henry. She was trying to work out how long she would have to stay at Henry’s place. Even though she knew Henry would never say anything to that effect, she didn’t want to overstay her welcome either. And if she were totally honest with herself, though she always tried hard not to go there, she wasn’t sure what would happen when she spent an extended period of time alone with Henry. 

“The weather is usually very unpredictable, but with the snow we’ve already gotten, I’d say it really may be possible that we’ll be seeing those 25 inches of snow come down until tomorrow.” 

“I feared you’d say that,” Jo sighed. 

“Hey,” Henry began softly, “at least we’re safely inside. We have heating and enough supplies to last for a few days if it should come to that. And there’s nice company.” Henry winked at her with a smile. “What more can you wish for in a situation like this?” 

“If this storm really takes a couple days to clear, you might come to rethink the ‘nice company’ part,” Jo teased, “but I guess you’re right about the rest at least.” 

“Good.” Henry smiled brightly at her and was rewarded with a smile from Jo in return. “Now, how about dinner? There’s leftover lasagne. I’ll go and re-heat it, yes?” Jo nodded and Henry was off making dinner. 

Jo took the time to look around the room. She had never been up here for an extended period of time, much less alone. She spotted some pictures of Abe in various stages of his life and one of Abigail she presumed, but none were of Henry. _How odd!_ Her gaze travelled across the room until it landed on Henry who was just on his way back to her with their food, whistling some kind of melody. 

When he had arrived back at her side and she still hadn’t taken her eyes off of him, he gave her a funny look, but said nothing only handing over one plate of steaming lasagne. 

They ate, once more in companionable silence while it continued to snow heavily outside. They could also hear the wind pick up speed, howling around the corners, immensely glad to be inside. 

***

When they had finished eating and most of the tea, Henry made to clean and make more tea, but Jo insisted to help with the dishes. It’s the least she could do after all Henry had done for her she told him. 

Henry was just steeping the tea and Jo dried the last plate when the power flickered. 

“It is probably advisable to light some candles at this point.” Henry began rummaging in one of the drawers for more candles. 

“And I have a flashlight in the car. I’m going to go and get it just in case.” Jo was buttoning her coat and down the stairs faster than Henry could protest. 

She returned a few minutes later with the flashlight visibly shaking. “It’s horrible out there!” Henry was by her side in a second, pressing a warm cup of tea into her cold hands. 

“You might want to change into something warmer,” Henry stated matter-of-factly as if it was the most normal occurrence in the world for her to change at his place. 

“What?” Jo’s eyes widened in surprise. “How’s that supposed to work? I’m not exactly carrying spare clothes around everywhere I go!” Jo turned to him exasperation lacing her words. 

“I am aware. I think I know a solution for this predicament of yours.” Henry walked down the hall with Jo following curiously behind. 

In what she presumed to be his bedroom. _Tasteful interior. Lots of dark wood. Very Henry._ She thought to herself, gaze sweeping around the room while Henry was busy looking for something in one of the drawers when the power flickered again. 

“Ahah!” He announced finally. “There you are!” He moved to stand in front of her handing her a bundle of clothes. “I think these will keep you warm much better. They’ll be a little big, but more comfortable in any case.” 

“Henry, this is an NYPD-issue tracksuit. You keep it as a souvenir after one of your skinny dipping stints?” Jo laughed, but when she saw Henry’s expression change she knew she had hit the nail on the head. “Really, Henry?!” 

“Yes, well, it will be warmer than your clothes in any case. And don’t worry I’ve had it cleaned.” He left her alone to change and Jo couldn’t help but shake her head at the whole situation. 

It seemed to be getting more and more chilly in the apartment, so Jo changed into the t-shirt and tracksuit as fast as she could, folding her own clothes neatly and setting them on top of Henry’s dresser. She put her shoes next to it and was just about to return to the living-room when she inhaled and noticed that – of course – the clothes smelled like Henry. She realized that she was encompassed by Henry’s scent and her stomach flipped at the thought. 

She purposefully ignored anything her brain was trying to tell her and left the room. She couldn’t prevent a smile from forming on her lips though. 

She found Henry lighting a few candles in the living-room. And not a moment too soon as the power flickered once more and then went out for good. 

“Great!” 

“Oh, I think there’s a certain appeal to candlelight.” One corner of his mouth turned upwards at that and Jo wasn’t quite sure what to make of that expression. 

“Anyway, have you turned down the heat in here?” 

“No, why?” Henry seemed truly surprised at her question. 

“I feel like it’s getting chillier in here.” 

Henry went to the nearest heater and felt its temperature. “You’re right. Seems like it was not only the power going out, but the heating as well. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault – unless you have any connections to the weather God I’m not aware of.” She had to smile at that despite herself. 

“No, none that I’m aware of.” He winked at her. 

Jo went back over to sit on the couch. She crossed her legs under her and wrapped herself up in the blanket again to keep warm – or more like try and not get any colder. Henry sat down next to her. He didn’t feel the cold get to him yet with all his layers of clothing. 

After a while Jo broke the silence that had fallen once more. “You know, I feel like we should do anything. Otherwise it will be a very long evening considering it’s only barely 7 now.” 

“And what precisely do you have in mind?” Henry cocked his head to the side a little and raised one eyebrow. He seemed intrigued at her proposal.

“Well, I was thinking along the lines of Truth or Dare, only without the dares because I don’t fancy getting up in this cold.”

“So let’s see if I understand this correctly. You’re basically proposing we question each other and have to answer truthfully?”

“Exactly! What to you think?” 

“Well, why not. It could be an entertaining way to pass the time. Would you like to begin?”

“Yeah, ok. Um, what was the warmest place you ever travelled to?” 

“Well, that’s not as easy to answer as you might think,” Henry said pensively. “The hottest temperature I experienced was probably in Al-‘Aziziyah, Libya where the temperature rose to 46°C while I was there. But the most uncomfortably hot place was Mumbai, India. It was only around 30°C, but unbearably humid. It was monsoon season and as an Englishman I’m used to rain, but this was excruciating.” 

“Wow, sounds like you’ve travelled a lot! I’m impressed!” 

“Well, not so much really. Only a little here and there,” Henry tried to downplay his experiences. _And for over 200 years worth of time, that is true._

“Yeah, sure!” She obviously had her doubts. “But it’s your turn now anyway, Henry.” 

“What would you say was so far the happiest day of your life, Jo?” 

A smile broke out on her features before a sad hue momentarily swept over her face that was replaced again with a happy, but wistful smile in an instant. “As cliché as that might sound, I have to go with my wedding day. It was just perfect and romantic. It was only a small reception, very intimate, but very beautiful,” she trailed off, clearly lost in her memories and Henry was berating himself for bringing it up in the first place before his thoughts turned to his own wedding day with Abigail unbidden. 

***

“Henry! Henry!” He was startled back into the present. Jo’s concerned gaze was the first thing he saw upon returning to the here and now. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Where did you just go?” 

“I was only thinking about something…” 

“Must have been a hell of thought to occupy your mind like that! Up for another question?”

“Of course.” 

“Why are there no pictures of you around here?” Henry felt himself tense at the question. 

“Well, it would potentially raise awkward questions.” 

“What do you… ?” Henry could practically see the proverbial light bulb going off above her head. Jo clapped a hand over her mouth embarrassed and her cheeks blushed beet red. “Oh my gosh! Henry, I’m so sorry! You do such a good job hiding your secret that I had momentarily forgotten. And I have to admit after the bumpy start I had accepting the truth for what it was, it has slowly become normal for me. I really am sorry!”

“Jo, don’t worry. It’s ok. I have to admit I’m actually glad you feel this way now. I had been worried for a while there after I told you.” Henry reached out a hand to give the fingers poking out from under the blanket a squeeze. “Jo, you’re freezing! This won’t do!” And with that he jumped up and tried to pull her to her feet too.

“Henry what are you doing?” She protested his attempts to pull her upright. 

“You are freezing! We have to warm you up!” When Jo was too stunned to resist for a second, Henry succeeded in pulling her to her feet. The momentum gave him enough leverage to pull her down the hall towards his bedroom. 

There he made her lie down in his bed and covered her with his comforter. He left the room, only to return with the flashlight and blanket from the couch and another one she hadn’t seen before. He piled the blankets on top of the bed before turning on the flashlight and set it on his nightstand. 

“I might know my way around even in the dark, but I thought you’d be more comfortable with a little light.” Henry said, at what Jo gave him a grateful smile. She wasn’t sure whether he had noticed it though because he was moving again already and rummaged through a drawer before leaving the room once more, something in his hands. 

He returned a few minutes later clad in a button down pyjama top with matching pants. “So you really don’t sleep naked after all?” 

“Not usually, no.” She fully understood the meaning behind his unspoken words. She just didn’t know what to make of them, considering their – whatever they even were. 

Henry got under the covers on the other side and noticed that Jo had curled up around herself in an attempt to get warm. She had turned on her side, drawn her knees to her chest and stuck her hands in-between her legs. She was still shivering though and her teeth were chattering even. 

“If you turn around and scoot over here you’ll get warmer much quicker.” Though the situation wasn’t life-threatening, Henry wanted to get her comfortable as soon as possible. 

Jo just shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“You are aware that I can hear your teeth chattering over here, right? You are clearly not fine. I just want to help you relieve the cold.” He sounded sincere enough and Jo was feeling so awful that she was actually considering taking Henry up on his offer. 

_As if sharing a bed with him isn’t bad enough, now he wants to cuddle too. Maybe I should just have braved the storm in the first place. Or maybe not!_ She tried to shut off the portion of her brain responsible for the last part, but sighed conceding defeat. “Alright! But no funny business!” She looked over her shoulder to give Henry a pointed look.

“No funny…? Oh, of course not! I can assure you I don’t have any ulterior motives.” _Not tonight at least. Huh, where did that even come from?_

Very slowly Jo untangled her limbs and turned over. She began scooting over towards Henry, clearly still not quite sure whether she had made the right decision. He did the same, meeting her halfway. Both were initially unsure how to proceed from there. Neither of them had quite thought this through to the end. 

Finally Henry made the first move, slowly reaching out and pulling Jo against him a little stiffly. She hesitantly put her hands on his chest, but otherwise remained rigid in his arms. After a few minutes, both exhaled as if on cue and began to relax against each other. 

Jo’s teeth ceased their chattering after a while and she slowly started to feel better. Only her fingers were still freezing, so she devised a plan to help with that. She fumbled around over Henry’s chest for a moment until she found the right angle and carefully stuck her fingers in the holes between the buttons of Henry’s top. 

“Goodness!” Henry shrieked shrilly, reaching higher notes than Jo thought possible. “What are you doing?”

“Just warming up my fingers,” Jo told him innocently. 

“These icicles don’t feel like fingers!”

“Oh, don’t be such a baby, Henry!” Henry opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it and resolved to just bear the cold until her hands warmed up. They would warm up eventually, right? 

***

Jo really did feel warm again at long last. She enjoyed the feeling of Henry’s arms around her though and didn’t want to move away just because the purpose of the hug had been fulfilled. Instead she snuggled further into his embrace, her head safely tucked under Henry’s chin. Henry didn’t seem to mind either and tightened his hold on her.

So they unconsciously arrived at the same conclusion, to enjoy their unusual setting and close proximity as long as possible. 

***

“Henry,” Jo murmured after a long while, “tell me a story.” 

“And what kind of story would you like to hear precisely?” 

“Something from your past would be nice.” She could never quite hear enough of the tales he had to tell of his long life and Henry seemed more than willing to indulge her, now that she knew all his ‘research’ had been experience instead. 

“Well, let me think,” Henry mumbled, clearly already deep in thought. “Oh yes, this one is kind of fitting for the occasion.” Jo wasn’t sure what kind of occasion that was supposed to be exactly, but she would find out now. 

“This particular story begins in the winter of 1794-1795.” Henry started. Then he shifted a little to find a more comfortable position. Storytelling could take a while. He ended up resting on his back with Jo snuggled into his side, her head pillowed on his chest. 

“So 1794. You were 15 then right?” 

“Yes, and I have to admit that I haven’t thought about these times in a long while.” When Henry spoke about himself and his private life, the little he did anyway, things were always vague, but when he spoke about time doubly so. _‘A long while’ what does that even mean to someone over 200 years old?_ Jo was lost in her thoughts and barely missed Henry beginning to speak again.

“The winter that year was exceptionally severe. So severe in fact that the Thames froze over and a ‘Frost Fair’ was held. One day I snuck out and met with some friends when I was supposed to help my father with his work.” 

“Henry, I’m surprised! I never pegged you for the type to sneak away.”

“You know, I was young, made some questionable decisions.” Jo perked up at that. “But that’s a story for another time. Back to that day, my parents couldn’t believe what I had done when they found out either. Got quite the beating for it too.” 

“And never snuck out again?” 

“Oh no! Just never got caught again!” Jo could practically hear the grin on Henry’s face accompanying the smug undertone. He fell silent for a moment then, probably reminiscing about the other instances of misbehaviour. 

After a moment Henry cleared his throat and continued with his tale. “It was freezing that day and we very nearly suffered frostbite in ears and toes, but we had a blast that day at the fair.

Coaches came from everywhere. It seemed like the whole of London was on the ice. It was a splendid day! The weather was gorgeous. The skies were blue and the sun was shining brightly for the first time after a prolonged period of grey, cloudy weather and days of heavy snowfall.” Henry chuckled at that. Well, he had said his story would be fitting for the occasion after all.

“There were countless people on sleighs and horse and coach races were held. A great street with shops and a number of other attractions was built and a great many shows and tricks and other things could be seen. There was so much to see and do! 

I remember that we each ate a piece of roasted beef we bought right there on the ice. Then we spent the longest time ice-skating. We immensely enjoyed skating a little closer to the young ladies than was strictly socially acceptable at the time.” Henry snickered a little and Jo was trying very hard to imagine a young Henry, but the image was just not sticking try as she might. 

To her Henry was this sophisticated, always well-dressed, a little old-fashioned gentleman with a peculiar sense of humour and a very odd streak sometimes. Anything else seemed somehow weird. She still enjoyed hearing him talk of times long passed though and for Henry it was an unfamiliar yet very welcome feeling to be able to tell her openly. 

“That sounds like a lovely memory and an awesome day, Henry! But I have to admit I hadn’t heard of London ‘Frost Fairs’ before.”

“That’s not unusual because the last one was held in 1814. After that time the climate got slowly warmer and when the old London Bridge was demolished in 1831 and replaced with a newer one with wider arches the Thames could flow more freely, thus making it more unlikely for it to freeze,” Henry explained. 

“So 1794 was the only time you ever went to a ‘Frost Fair’?” 

“No. In fact I went one other time. I even got a card commemorating the occasion with the date and my name. It was printed right there on the frozen river. I have to show it to you some day. That was in 1814 by the way and I went with my first wife Nora.” Henry sounded somewhat melancholic at that particular memory and Jo made a mental note to ask him about her some time but for now she liked happy Henry better. 

Jo yawned. It was slowly getting late and she had gotten little sleep over the last few days. Besides she was warm now and more comfortable than she’d like to admit. She felt more content than she had in a long time. Enduring the cold today had been worth it in the end. 

“Do you have other favourite memories of winter?” Jo mumbled, slowly nodding off. 

“I have lots of wonderful memories of the winters when Abraham was a little boy. He loved winter and snow, so we would play outside as much as possible. We always enjoyed building snowmen and making snow angels. And Abraham loved snowball fights as well. Though I’d usually only play the role of observer while he fought with the neighbour kids. We’d return home cold, but happy. It’s another one of my favourite memories, Abraham being small.” He sounded truly proud and so very happy. Jo loved this side of him. Pity it only made such a rare appearance. 

“You really have to tell me more about that at some point.” She yawned again. “I’d love to hear it.” 

“I will do that, Jo. But now I believe it’s time to sleep, don’t you think?” She had tried to hide her yawning as best as she could, but of course Henry had noticed. You really couldn’t get anything past him. 

“I guess. Thank you for tonight Henry. It was definitely more enjoyable than what I would have done at my own place,” she admitted. 

“My pleasure, Jo,” Henry said sincerely. “Good night. Sleep well.”

“You too.” 

She drifted to sleep that night thinking about how she’d have nothing against repeating this evening and their current setting again at some point. Unbeknownst to her Henry was thinking along the same lines while he readjusted and tightened his hold around her again and she felt him press a soft kiss to the top of her head. 

Both realised that blizzards could have their perks, as strange as that might sound.

**Author's Note:**

> I got attacked by a very ferocious plot bunny not even 48 hours before the deadline which then forced me to write this story. I'm very sleep-deprived now, but hope it was worth it. *yawns*


End file.
